The Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, in collaboration with the Empower Sports Academy, has officially launched the third National Empower Girls Tournament 2026 during a high-profile ceremony held at the Governor House in Karachi.
The nationwide initiative seeks to identify and cultivate grassroots athletic talent among young women across Pakistan, serving as the institutional pipeline for future international and Olympic selection. The tournament structure spans four distinct athletic categories, encompassing volleyball, badminton, taekwondo, and a comprehensive track-and-field roster featuring sprint events alongside javelin and discus throws.
During the launch proceedings, Alisha Junaid, a national-level volleyball player and the founder of the Empower Sports Academy, emphasised that the primary objective of the organisation remains the creation of equitable competitive opportunities that enable Pakistani girls to advance to global sporting stages. To sustain this development trajectory, the academy leadership announced the upcoming establishment of a specialised, state-of-the-art training facility in Islamabad designed to offer world-class infrastructure and high-performance training environments for aspiring athletes.
Endorsing the expanded public-private alliance, the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, affirmed the state’s strategic commitment to unlocking the potential of young women through sport. The state-backed programme intends to extend its outreach to 10,000 female participants this year, scaling access to technical mentorship, professional coaching networks, and regulated national competitive platforms.
